On 18 August, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released an alternative view of the traditional Olympic medal tally to take into account the populations of competing nations.

The ABS said the traditional measure of medals as a 'raw score' did not take into account the population of the competing country, a possible factor in the ability of nations to field medal winning athletes. When this was considered, it presented a different picture to the traditional measure.

The ABS analysis shows that Australia's tally at the close of the Athens Olympics equates to one Gold Medal for each 1,186,000 of the population.

This ranks Australia in third place behind Norway (one Gold Medal for each 910,000 of its population) and The Bahamas ( one Gold Medal for each 317,000 of its population).

Using this methodology, the final rank order of countries using Population per Gold Medal is as follows:

MEDAL TALLY BY WORLD POPULATION

Country

Medals Won

Population

Population

Population

(Ranked by Population per Gold Medal)

(As at close of competition day 16)

per Gold Medal

per Medal

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

'000

'000

'000

1.

Bahamas

1

0

1

2

317

317

159

2.

Norway

5

0

1

6

4,551

910

759

3.

Australia

17

16

16

49

20,164

1,186

412

4.

Hungary

8

6

3

17

9,830

1,229

578

5.

Cuba

9

7

11

27

11,323

1,258

419

6.

New Zealand

3

2

0

5

3,902

1,301

780

7.

Jamaica

2

1

2

5

2,677

1,339

535

8.

Greece

6

6

4

16

10,963

1,827

685

9.

Sweden

4

1

2

7

8,887

2,222

1,270

10.

Georgia

2

2

0

4

5,073

2,537

1,268

11.

Denmark

2

0

6

8

5,373

2,687

672

12.

Slovakia

2

2

2

6

5,407

2,704

901

13.

Romania

8

5

6

19

22,278

2,785

1,173

14.

United Arab Emirates

1

0

0

1

3,049

3,049

3,049

15.

Lithuania

1

2

0

3

3,421

3,421

1,140

16.

Bulgaria

2

1

9

12

7,830

3,915

653

17.

Ireland

1

0

0

1

3,996

3,996

3,996

18.

Netherlands

4

9

9

22

16,220

4,055

737

19.

Austria

2

4

1

7

8,116

4,058

1,159

20.

Croatia

1

2

2

5

4,413

4,413

883

21.

Belarus

2

6

7

15

9,854

4,927

657

22.

Russia

27

27

38

92

142,365

5,273

1,547

23.

Korea (South)

9

12

9

30

47,913

5,324

1,597

24.

Ukraine

9

5

9

23

48,163

5,351

2,094

25.

France

11

9

13

33

60,428

5,493

1,831

26.

Italy

10

11

11

32

57,310

5,731

1,791

27.

Germany

14

16

18

48

82,504

5,893

1,719

28.

Israel

1

0

1

2

6,556

6,556

3,278

29.

Great Britain

9

9

12

30

59,416

6,602

1,981

30.

Switzerland

1

1

3

5

7,160

7,160

1,432

31.

Japan

16

9

12

37

127,738

7,984

3,452

32.

Chile

2

0

1

3

15,993

7,997

5,331

33.

Azerbaijan

1

0

4

5

8,453

8,453

1,691

34.

United States

35

39

29

103

297,031

8,487

2,884

35.

Dominican Republic

1

0

0

1

8,869

8,869

8,869

36.

Czech Republic

1

3

4

8

10,227

10,227

1,278

37.

Belgium

1

0

2

3

10,337

10,337

3,446

38.

Canada

3

6

3

12

31,731

10,577

2,644

39.

Chinese Taipei

2

2

1

5

22,794

11,397

4,559

40.

Poland

3

2

5

10

38,547

12,849

3,855

41.

Zimbabwe

1

1

1

3

12,900

12,900

4,300

42.

Uzbekistan

2

1

2

5

26,477

13,239

5,295

43.

Spain

3

11

5

19

41,098

13,699

2,163

44.

Kazakhstan

1

4

3

8

15,419

15,419

1,927

45.

Morocco

2

1

0

3

31,073

15,537

10,358

46.

Cameroon

1

0

0

1

16,275

16,275

16,275

47.

Argentina

2

0

4

6

38,864

19,432

6,477

48.

Thailand

3

1

4

8

63,450

21,150

7,931

49.

Turkey

3

3

4

10

72,298

24,099

7,230

50.

Kenya

1

4

2

7

32,389

32,389

4,627

51.

Iran

2

2

2

6

69,829

34,915

11,638

52.

Ethiopia

2

3

2

7

72,469

36,235

10,353

53.

China

32

17

14

63

1,312,861

41,027

20,839

54.

South Africa

1

3

2

6

45,058

45,058

7,510

55.

Brazil

4

3

3

10

180,598

45,150

18,060

56.

Egypt

1

1

3

5

73,459

73,459

14,692

57.

Indonesia

1

1

2

4

222,562

222,562

55,641

58.

Estonia

0

1

2

3

1,367

456

59.

Slovenia

0

1

3

4

1,990

498

60.

Latvia

0

4

0

4

2,287

572

61.

Trinidad and Tobago

0

0

1

1

1,289

1,289

62.

Mongolia

0

0

1

1

2,500

2,500

63.

Finland

0

2

0

2

5,177

2,589

64.

Portugal

0

2

1

3

10,067

3,356

65.

Eritrea

0

0

1

1

3,712

3,712

66.

DPR Korea (North)

0

4

1

5

22,754

4,551

67.

Serbia-Montenegro

0

2

0

2

10,555

5,278

68.

Paraguay

0

1

0

1

5,470

5,470

69

Hong Kong (S.A.R.)

0

1

0

1

6,807

6,807

70

Venezuela

0

0

2

2

24,277

12,139

71

Syrian Arab Republic

0

0

1

1

16,560

16,560

72

Mexico

0

3

1

4

104,895

26,224

73

Colombia

0

0

1

1

42,120

42,120

74

Nigeria

0

0

2

2

114,746

57,373

75

India

0

1

0

1

1,016,938

1,016,938

Data sources:

Australian population - Australian Bureau of Statistics

Other country populations estimates are based on United Nations Population Division figures